Ghostbusters: Toxic Requiem
by MarandaWrites
Summary: The Ghostbusters are facing new problems in NY City, new adventures, and new romances. Based on the movies alone, takes place afterwards. Romance, humor, thriller, action, supernatural, suspense. PLEASE Review if you read. I want to know if you like.
1. Act One: Breadless

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ghostbusters creators, producers, or directors, or of the movies/tv shows themselves. This is only a fanfiction devoted to the movies which I love.

Author's Notes: Hello all GB fans out there! This story is basically about a strange girl, more ghostly hauntings, and the ever-so-loved Ghostbusters! In this story there is action, humor, supernatural activities, romance, thriller, and suspense. I'm hoping this story comes out as well as I want it to be. This fanfiction is based on the movies, for I have only seen the cartoons twice and forget what they are about. Anyways, enough chatter, on with the show! ((On with the book!))

may be slightly OOC. Takes place after both of the movies.

**Ghostbusters: Toxic Requiem**

**Act One:**

**Breadless**

_The street lamps dimmed subordinately from the growing darkness of night. A whispering breeze wound itself around the leaves, rustling them ever so gently as to make them dance hypnotically. Most people tongight were either at home sleeping or working the night shift. New York City calmly inhaled the new day as the clocks struck twelve a.m._

An old brick firehouse contained four slumbering bodies familiar to the world as heroes. Dr. Raymond Stanz, Dr. Peter Venkman, Egon Spengler, and Winston Zeddmore were the familiar heroes. They were the Ghostbusters. With bravery, enthusiasm, spunk, and an everlasting faith, these four friends conquered over all supernatural forces. Twice had New York City been saved from near-destruction, and from then on praise and gratitude showered upon them.

Ray usually had odd dreams that he never shared with the others.. Tonight, as the half moon gleemed over the earth, his dreams seemed stranger than normal. A blurred image of a person hovered over Ray's immobile body, floating without a sound. Instantly, the blurred image pressed something sharp into his side, sending a current of both pain and pleasure through his disappearing body. Then Ray saw Slimer pour a sticky green slime all over his head. This immediately awoke Ray, and shocked him when he found Slimer flying about the room frantically. Feeling his head, Ray realized he hadn't been slimed after all. Now he needed to fall back asleep.

And failed miserably..

Rubbing his coffee brown eyes, Ray chose not to try and attract the Sandman to his bed anymore. Instead, he gathered himself and walked groggily downstairs and into the kitchen for a late night snack. The overly dark kitchen was indeed eery, but the Ghosbusters had gotten used to feeling an eeriness about them at all times. After all, supernatural hinderances dwelled everywhere, you just needed to be prepared in case they came your way.

"_Shit_.." Ray swore under his breath as he realized there was no more bread left in stock. He was sure to get stuck in the morning for grocery duties.

Replacing the idea of making a sandwich with an idea to reheat some pasta, Ray headed for the refrigerator. This wasn't the first time he couldn't sleep. On some occasions he would painstakingly try to fall asleep while hearing the annoying snores from his fellow teammates. One particular time became so awful that Ray threw a pillow at Peter to stop the noise.

Taking the pasta out of the microwave, Ray regretted not turning the light on. He could barely hold the steaming plate without almost dropping it while he walked to a table. He sat down and began to eat blindly, chuckling at himself as his bad aim brought the fork to his nose. A creaking noise was audible, but Ray made nothing of it. He figured it was Slimer. Sure enough, Slimer soon swung into the room holding a flashlight. He dropped it into Ray's pasta, sending sauce everywhere.

"Slimer!" Ray yelled, "You are such a jerk! I can't see, and you know very well I can't. What is wrong with you?"

The green floating blob answered, "_Nahhh-thinnnng_."

Ray stumbled in the dark to try and find a napkin. This was very odd because he could have just put the light on in the first place! Slimer laughed maliciously and flipped the kitchen light on. This sudden change of atmosphere caused Ray to crash into a counter. He grabbed some napkins and grunted angrily.

"Thanks a lot Slimer," Ray demerged his eyebrows to show he was irritated.

After cleaning up, Ray ate the remainder of his little snack and went to his bed. It didn't take him very long for the rush of exhaustion to drown him in slumber. The night moved on with no more disturbances or strange dreams.

Morning approached with its rising sun, pinkish clouds, and tainted blue sky. Peter Venkman awoke first, quickly making coffee before the rest of the crew woke up to the new day. Janine, the Ghostbusters' secretary, arrived in her common uninterested mood. The clocks read seven a.m. 'Twas time to start the business day.

"Slimer attacked me with the damned flashlight last night," Ray opened up the newspaper and glanced in the obituaries.

Peter retorted, "That's why it's so dirty.. It's covered in dry sauce. What were you eating? Pasta?"

Ray nodded, soon trailing off deeper into the newspaper.

"Ray," Egon called warningly, "you kept the lights off again, didn't you?"

Silence.

Sitting at the coffee table in the kitchen, Egon pressed on, "You know that is a really irresponsible habit. One day, Ray, one day you will trip and fall just because you prefer the dark. That's when we will be forced to laugh in your face. I'd hate to see that day."

"No you wouldn't, Egon. You would laugh too." Winston enetered the kitchen, grabbed a cup of coffee, and downed it within fifteen seconds.

Now ignoring the bunch, Ray pretended to read the sports columns. He crossed one leg over the other and sighed.

Peter opened a cabinet and searched for bread. . . He looked dumbfounded and turned to face the others.

"Where's the bread?" He asked, still wondering how he would make toast without the one main ingredient.

Popping his head over the paper, Ray stated, "There's none."

At this time, Slimer flew into the kitchen, dripping his clear, snot-like goo on Peter's shoulder.

"What the hell? Man, that blob hates me!" Peter half chuckled, half whined. He didn't want to change the subject though. "How can there be no bread? There was at least a third of a loaf left. _What'dja_ do, Ray, have a french toast party last night?"

"Yeah," Ray declared sarcastically, "I had a party with french toast and pasta. Bad mix, Pete. I don't think I could have that much bread in one sitting. Maybe Slimer ate it."

"_Blagh! Noottt mmee!"_ Slimer flew back into the kitchen and hovered over Peter.

Jumping away from the green blob, Pete shouted, "Don't come near me you booger! I don't want your snot all over me anymore. Ruining my shirts day after day. I can see if you hate me, fine, but don't go around blowin snots outta your ass at me!"

"Look," Winston chimed in, "Who cares who ate it? We all sleep and eat here every friggin' day. Who's to say we all didn't eat it? Loaves of bread aren't going to just walk away. Besides, I recall us all making a huge breakfast the other day. Maybe that's when it was eaten and we don't remember. All I know is we have to go grocery shopping sooner or later. Our cupboards are more bare than a prostitute in downtown New York. So... Who's going shopping today?.."

Pete smiled, "Not it!"

A few others rang in, "Not it!"

"Not me.."

"Not this time..Not it."

Ray, unfortunately, had been too late with his, "_Not it."_ Even if he hadn't had to go, someone was bound to threaten or bribe him to shop instead.

"Great.." He stated, folding up the newspaper. Ray continued, "I'll only go if you write a legible list of what we need. I hate going without a clue of what to buy."

Egon sipped his black coffee, "We need bread."

Giggling, Janine added, "Yes, we need bread." Her mood seemed to lift.

Adding onto the teasing, Pete blurted, "We need bread, Ray."

Apparently fed up with the situation, Winston spoke up, "I'll write you a list, Ray. Just wait a sec. and I'll have it for you."

With a smile, Ray asked in a over-perky voice, "Will you come with me, Pete? I need some company."

"I'm supposed to visit Dana and Oscar today." The room went quiet after Pete spoke.

After about three months together, Dana met someone new and far more responsible than Peter. She cancelled her and Pete's wedding, which wouldn't of worked out anyways, and told him he could visit Oscar whenever the need occured. Pete avoided all communication between them for a month or so, until he swallowed his pride and tried to get over it. A week ago, Pete arranged a meeting time every week to visit Dana and Oscar, to at least keep their friendship. He felt awkward though, for Dana was already planning to marry the new man in her life. She told Peter she would have him meet the new man for a second opinion before she got too close. Dana knew that all men had some special bond in them to talk about everything...including what they thought of their new girlfriends.

Standing up, Ray said, "I can drop you off after we shop. Where do you need to be?"

"Dana's meeting me at a cafe on the corner of Central Park. I'm supposed to meet the new guy today. Not looking forward to that."

"That's on the way back, too," Ray took the keys to Ecto-1, "Let's go."

Winston grinned, "Beat that asshole up for us, Pete, whoever he is."

Walking out of the firehouse and into the chilly autumn environment, Ray and Pete stepped into the Ecto-1, their Ghostbusting car. Ray started up the engine and drove off towards the nearest grocery store. The car radio was playing a classic rock song, urging the listeners to sing along. In no time, they were at the most well-known grocery store in New York City. As usual, the parking lot was packed beyond belief. Eventually, there was an open spot to park in.

"Come on," Pete sighed, "Let's get this over with. Winston gave me the list.. We need bread _obviously_, milk, lettuce, tomatoes, cold cuts, and a bunch of other bullshit. I'll take the bottom half of our long list and you take the top. Alright?"

"Yeah, sure," Ray agreed as they both took a carriage and entered the stately store.

First thing first, Ray headed towards the breads isle and Pete headed in the same direction for doughnuts. This wasn't on the list, but he figured the Ghostbusters needed a treat once in awhile. Laughing, Ray spotted Pete grabbing two boxes of sugar-covered doughnuts and a package of Swiss Rolls. He knew this would be an interesting experience, shopping with a junk-food lover.

"You need the carriage more than I do, Pete." Ray laughed again.

Turning to face his friend, Pete answered, "I didn't even see you there. This...stuff is for...umm..Oscar."

"Give me a break! Oscar isn't allowed to eat that junk. It's alright if you smuggle in some treats. I'll pretend I didn't even see it."

Some time went by and the two men separated to finish the rest of the groceries. Pete sauntered towards the vegetables, picking up the lettuce, tomatoes, and whatnot. It was there where his attention was drawn to a female who was currently taking cucumbers.

The woman's dark brown hair was held up by a large clip, leaving some strands swaying freely. Her hazel eyes studied each cucumber for flaws, and her lips pursed in concentration. The rest of her body, _oh Heavens_, Pete studied the slenderness, the curves, the utterly attractive everything. Hooked like a fish, Pete yearned to hear her name. He wanted so badly to kiss those beautifully luscious pursed lips. However, he knew just plainly walking up to her wouldn't be such a good idea. He would follow her discreetly for a few, and make sure she didn't have a macho boyfriend who could kick the shit out of him.

On the other side of the store, Ray was picking up the cold cuts. Bologna, roast beef, cheese, salami, and a couple of other things that the other guys liked. He also bought some sliced turkey for Janine. Pushing the carriage, Ray walked towards the drinks and cereal isles, which were pretty close to one another. Upon entering the cereal isle, Ray noticed a woman carrying an over-stuffed basket of food, mostly healthy. Pete walked into the isle and spotted his accomplice immediately, and ran over to him while still holding some vegetable items.

"Here," Pete plopped the food into the carriage and glanced back at the wonderful woman, "Ray, you see that girl over there?"

Ray looked at the woman again, but this time realized just how gorgeous she was. "What the hell is she doing in this place? She's too pretty to be in this neck of the woods. What a beauty."

"Yeah," He nodded and grabbed a box of Cheerios, "and she's mine. Watch and learn, Stanz."

_Oh no, here we go again._ Ray knew how Pete became with the women. There was always a certain cockiness in his attitude when asking a woman out. This is how most of Pete's problems came about.

"Hello there," Pete started at the woman with an over-friendly voice, "I'm Peter."

The woman looked up from the cereal box, studied the man in front of her and answered softly, "Hi."

"I know you are going to think this is crazy, but...I've fallen madly in love with you just now. I cannot picture my life without you."

"Then," responded the woman, "Don't put your life in a picture."

Pete frowned, "We started on the wrong foot..What's your name?"

"Look," The woman placed a box of cereal in her basket, "I'm glad you are so enthusiastic to hit on me, but I cannot respond to this immaturity. How about you go back under your rock and wait for a desperate woman to come along."

"_Ouch!_" Pete, still frowning, chuckled a bit, "You are definitely my kind of woman."

She sighed and glared into Pete's eyes, "Too bad, so sad." Walking along the isle, Pete followed behind.

Ray giggled as the woman and Pete came closer. He decided to step in.

"Pete," Ray stopped his friend, "I think it's time you leave this woman alone. Obviously you are not her type. Why don't you go back to the snack isle..." He peered into the beautiful woman's eyes, "I'm sorry, miss.. Sometimes Pete is a bit..._over-confident_ with women."

"It's alright," She answered, shooting a pleasant smile at Ray, "Thank you for stepping in though. I don't know how much longer it'll take before I really get angry. My name's Samara."

"I'm Ray.." His face turned a slight shade of pink. He was always shy with women.

Taking a deep breath, Samara went on, "Maybe we'll pass paths again sometime. It was nice meeting you. Good luck handling your obsessive buddy." With a grin, she began to walk away after Ray bade farewell.

Now shocked, Pete seemed defeated, "So ends another chance with a female. Let's checkout now."

The grocery adventure was over, and the Ghostbusters were no longer breadless. Ray dropped Pete off on the corner street near Central Park just as Dana, Oscar, and the new guy arrived. Pete knew this was going to be an adventure all on its own.


	2. Act Two: Slapping & Blushing

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my plot and character I made up. Everything else belongs to the creators of GB.

A/N: Chapter one is done. I know it kind of lagged on, but it was an introductory. Anyways, here we go. BTW STRONG T!

**Act Two:**

**Slapping & Blushing**

Dana stood in line holding her son, Oscar. She waited for Pete to approach them to take a seat in the cafe. Dana's new boyfriend had gone to park their car. Without any real conversation, Pete, Dana, and Oscar took their seats. Pete took it upon himself to begin the conversation with a few normal questions. The common '_How are you?' 'How is life?' 'How is work?'_ were asked and answered optmistically. Dana had been given a raise in her musical career. By the time she was done talking about her work, her new boyfriend was seated at the table.

The man was tall like a basketball player, pale like a vampire, and strong like a soccer player. He was neither lanky nor muscular, and his short, blonde wavy hair made him look a bit foolish.

"Hi there," The man shook Pete's hand, "I'm Ernest Marshall, but my friends call my Ernie. You must be Peter Venkman, one of the famous Ghostbusters. It's nice to finally meet one of Dana's friends."

"It's nice to finally meet another Sesame Street character," Pete blurted, chuckling to himself. "Do you realize that with Oscar, you two could both audition for roles on PBS?"

Dana hid a laugh under her breath. She hadn't realized until then just how silly it seemed with two characters by her side. "Don't mind Peter," She told Ernie, who was flustered, "He's a bit humorous now and again. Sometimes he tries too hard."

"Yes," Pete went on, "I try too hard.. You know, Dana, all you need to do is change your name to Snuffleupagus or Cookie Monster and you'd be all set. But on a better note...How is life with Bert, Ernie?"

"Ok..." Ernie pounded his fist lightly on the table, "That's enough. I think We get the picture. Let's just order our food and get on with this luncheon, shall we?"

"_Yes we shall_," Pete stated with a smirk. He knew he was going to have a fun time with this guy. Oscar was giggling, so he must've been having fun too.

The waitress practically ran to the table, almost knocking over an old man. She asked them what they wanted to eat and they all answered differently. Dana fed Oscar a bottle of milk before the drinks were served. A conversation about music struck up, which everyone talked about willingly. Pete said what kind of genres he listened to, as did Ernie and Dana. Then, they digressed to chatting about how the media was getting even more superficial as years passed. Oscar quietly drank his milk, absorbing all of the surroundings. Dana seemed to be really happy with her new boyfriend, and this made Pete very jealous.

"So you guys gettin' hitched?" Pete couldn't help but ask.

Dana stared into her lover's eyes and grinned, "We're going to live with each other first. When the time is right, it'll happen."

"How about you, Peter? You have a girlfriend?" Nosiness was Ernie's weakness.

Lying, Peter responded, "Yes, in fact, I do. I just met her today. Samara.. I asked her out and she accepted."

"That's great!" Dana seemed overly surprised.

Ernie raised his eyebrows, "Samara.. What's her last name?"

"I'm not sure. I only met her today and she uhh..." Pete lied again, "She is going to meet me at the firehouse tomorrow night. She has brown hair, beautiful hazel eyes, and looks to kill."

"That's my cousin," blurbed Ernie, ready to yell at Pete for talking about family in such lustful ways.

"Oh.." Biting his lip, Pete knew not to say anymore. He would be caught in a lie no doubt. There was no way to get out of the trap he formed himself. Dana would hear about his fibbing and never want to see him again.

Finishing lunch, Pete hugged Dana and Oscar while saying his goodbyes. He shook hands with Ernie and said he had a nice time metting him. Calling a cab, Pete wanted to go back to the firehouse as soon as possible. He decided to tell Ray about his little problem involving the very hot female and her cousin.

Egon was putting away groceries with Ray while Winston repaired the antenna on the car. Somehow it had bent a week ago, and only now was there spare time to fix it. Janine sat at her desk filing her nails while reading the latest edition of a women's magazine. The entire place was busy, but very quiet. As Pete came back to the firehouse, he tried to calm down and explain what had happened to Ray. Ray was a bit astonished, but also admitted he predicted something bad would've happened.

"The best thing you can do," Said Ray, patting Pete on the back, "is call Dana and tell her the truth before she finds out from Ernie. That way, she'll know you were man enough to confess. I can't believe that girl was his cousin though. Sounds to me like they are complete oppostes."

"Yeah...I guess I'll call.." Pete walked over to the phone and dialed Dana's number. When no one answered, he chose to call at a later time.

------

As night crept up on New York City once more, a certain Samara was about to experience some strange happenings.

"Holy Hell!" She shouted at the ringing phone, "When will this end? The damn phone rings and rings and rings. Neverending!"

Picking up the phone, Samara heard her cousin's voice on the other end. She talked to him, asking how he was and such, and he had nothing more to ask than why she was going out with a Ghostbuster.

"_What?"_ She shot at Ernie, "Why in God's name would I go out with that man I met at the market? Peter, you said?...Yeah, right. I wouldn't go out with him if someone payed me! He wasn't horrible, but way too cocky for my taste. No...No don't cause any trouble. I'll take care of it in the morning. Yeah...okay Ernie...Don't tell Dana. I'll make Peter Venkman wish he'd never lied to either of you." She hung up the phone, thus ending her conversation with her concerned cousin.

Practically falling on her rose-colored couch, Samara exhaled deeply and thought to herself. The day had been very interesting. She thought Peter looked familiar, but couldn't remember him from the Ghostbuster commercials she saw on t.v. over a month ago. Television wasn't really Samara's thing. She always loved painting and sketching. Her favorite hobbie was dancing. But when she had a long day full of interesting or mysterious events, her favorite place to go was on her fluffy couch.

As Samara was drifting off into sleep, even though it was only seven p.m, a mist of water sprayed about the room. At first, she didn't notice this. The mist turned into a light drizzle of red water. Samara jumped off of the couch, stood up, and gasped at what she saw. Before she could think about moving, the doors of her apartment shut and locked as a heavier rain of red liquid fell from the ceiling. Her furniture dripped with the red substance. The electricity shut, and Samara stood in the darkness. She screamed a few times as she ran to find her flashlight, which she always kept on the kitchen counter in case of emergency. As far as she knew, this was an emergency.

Listening closely, the rain haulted. A pause of silence swept over the room as a bad plague. Too frightened to make a noise, Samara stayed quite still, feeling the damp rug beneath her bare feet. The liquid felt thicker than water.. Suddenly, a haunting noise was audible. It was the sound of a child singing, humming a familiar lullabye. Now shaking, she put her flashlight on only to see her apartment dripping with the same substance... It was clear now that the liquid was indeed blood. The child's voice began to laugh deviously. When it stopped, an instant rush of blood streamed into the room, and onto Samara. She screamed in panic and ran towards her door.

**"Let me out!"** She turned her doorknob, which was hard to move because of the wetness.

The blood stopped pouring into the room. Samara fainted.

-----

Slimer slept in mid-air, but soon awoke from a disturbance in his dreams. He chuckled while he flew towards the sleeping Peter. It was nearly two a.m, and the guys had been asleep for awhile now. Licking Peter's face, Slimer laughed at his annoyances. Glancing around the room, he noticed that Ray was yet again tossing and turning in his slumber. What _was_ he dreaming about? Slimer really didn't want to deal with finding out, so he flew down into the kitchen and ate every last doughnut Pete had bought. No, he did not feel guilty.

Three a.m passed, followed by four and five. Ray woke up to the sound of Slimer snoring as loudly as he could. He wondered why the others weren't awaking to this terrible noise as he rubbed his eyes. Forcing himself out of bed, Ray sluggishly dragged himself to the bathroom. He turned the water of the shower on and let it run for a few minutes before getting in. The hot water felt good on a cold morning like this. Closing his tired eyes, Ray began to think. And then he chuckled as he realized Pete never called Dana the night before as he said he would.

"Guess all promises can't be kept. Even to yourself."

After taking his shower, Ray changed into his black shirt and khaki pants. This was his favorite outfit, for it showed that he did lose weight over the years. Sometimes, Pete would tease him about not looking healthy, but in fact, Ray was very healthy...Even if he did pig out on junk food here and there. But who didn't pig out once in awhile?

Once downstairs in the kitchen, Ray made a pot of coffee. It was almost six, and the guys would be waking up soon. The doughnuts were gone. Obviously it was Slimer's fault. Ray knew Peter would become very irritated if he knew Slimer took the doughnuts they just bought. But hey, they all needed a good laugh.

Winston was the first one to come downstairs and join Ray for the morning coffee. After him, Egon came down with Pete, both of them looking hilarious with bed-head syndrome. They all sat at the coffee table and chatted about the quiet days they were having. No one had really seen any supernatural entities in the past couple of weeks, but it was nice to hve a break. And at the moment, it was nice to have Slimer falling back asleep.

"Pete," Ray put his coffee mug down, "You never called Dana back last night. I just realized that in the shower."

Taken aback, Pete remarked, "I don't want to know what you think about in the shower. You're right though. I didn't call her back because I came down with a three hour flu."

"Yeah," Winston said as-a-matter-of-factly, "The chicken shit flu."

The guys laughed, but Egon only warned Peter, "She's going to be very upset with you. This is probably why she didn't trust you anymore when you guys were planning on a wedding. I'm sorry, but you _are _irresposible sometimes, Peter."

Sighing, Pete asked, "Is this Burn Pete Day? Look, I know I'm a little troubled sometimes, but I'd rather not just tell Dana. Maybe she'll think Mr. Ernest is lying. Maybe she'll send him back to Sesame Street where he belongs."

"I have to admit," Egon joked, "He does sound more puppet than human."

Seven o'clock rolled by, bringing the making of breakfast and the entrance of Janine, who was extra flirtacious with Egon this morning. She couldn't help but compliment on his cute, messy hair. Egon had always known Janine liked him, but they never actually tried dating. Egon was kind of afraid to, for he didn't want any interference with his work. However, he never shoved Janine away or made her stop flirting. That was always allowed in the firehouse.

After breakfast, the guys started a card game. Pete hadn't noticed the doughnuts were missing until he went searching for an early morning snack. Slimer was still sleeping, which gave Pete the perfect chance to get even. With all his might, Pete threw a bucket of ice water onto the sleeping blob, which sent him screaming with shock and chills. Slimer was definitely awake now, and freezing cold.

"_Gahhhheaaaah"_ Slimer shouted gibberishly while chasing Pete with his slime. Eventually, Slimer caught up with his enemy and poured some clear slime on his shirt and pants. Pete went to change.

The time was nine a.m. The Ghostbusters were still playing cards, taking a drink from time to time. Over by the entrance to the firehouse, a tired woman stepped through the double doors. It was Samara. She held a look of frustration and mystery on her face, painted on like a porcelain doll. The experience she had last night was too unreal, so she convinced herself it was a dream. After all, she _was _falling asleep before it happened.

"Hello?" Samara's entrancing voice called into the firehouse, echoing around the building.

Janine was straight ahead, sitting at her desk. She watched as the random female inched closer.

FInally seeing the girl approach her, Janine asked emotionlessly, "May I help you?"

"Is Peter Venkman here? I need to speak with him. My name is Samara Greene." Flipping her hair out of her way, she waited as Janine got up from her seat to find Peter.

Ray poked his head around the corner to see what the commotion was, and smiled when his eyes fell upon Samara. Seeing Pete come out from his office, Ray backed up so that neither of them saw his eavesdropping. Pete walked over calmly to her and hid away his panic stage.

Suddenly, Samara slapped Pete's face, leaving him in awe at such an instant attack.

"Ouch...You have quite a slap, Samara," Pete faced her eye-to-eye, "I'm guessing you heard how I used you."

Nodding, Samara finally spoke, "Hey, I heard that you told my cousin and his girlfriend how I was going out with you? I suppose my let down yesterday wasn't good enough for you. Which part of **no **didn't you understand?"

"The _'N' _part..." Pete smartly replied.

Samara raised an eyebrow, "I am willing to make a bargain. I won't say anything to your friend Dana if you can answer me a question."

Ray was listening from the corner still, peeking his head ever so slightly to hear better. Samara knew he was there, but said nothing.

"What?" Pete was clearly ready to answer anything, even if he didn't know it.

Thinking for a moment, Samara asked quietly, "Why did you use me as the culprit?"

"Uhh.." Pete choked up, "...I just ...You were the first person to pop into my head. That's the honest truth since you were the last female I saw before the luncheon started."

"Alright," She grinned shyly, "You are free. I'll tell Dana I went out on one date with you and tell her I had to leave early for personal reasons. Don't worry about my cousin. I'll bribe him not to tell her the truth. I swear though, if I hear that you lie to my cousin's girlfriend again, I will not only tell her, but I will crush you."

At this time, Ray came out from hiding and walked up to Pete and Samara. Janine was still at her desk, watching the crowd. Samara's attention moved from the grateful Pete to the mysterious Ray. She pondered to herself about how cute he seemed.. She loved the shy guys, but Ray just had something about him not usually found. Her intuition told her this sexy man was definitely one of a kind.

"Hi...Ray, I believe?"

"Yeah, that's me. You're Samara, the woman from the grocery store that Peter wouldn't leave alone. Correct?" A blushing pink color covered Ray's cheeks.

She spoke again with subtle pride, "Correct. I settled things with him, so don't worry. I wasn't aware at the time that you were a Ghostbuster. I should have asked for your signature to prove I met such a wonderful person."

Ray's cheeks burned from blushing, "Hahaha..Thanks, but I'm not that great. _Erm_..Would you like to meet the rest of the crew?"

She nodded with a pleased smile on her face and followed her new friend deeper into the firehouse.


End file.
